The present invention relates to electronic signage and self-service shopping systems, and more specifically to a self-service shopping system including an electronic price label (EPL) system.
EPL systems typically include a plurality of EPLs for each merchandise item in a store. EPLs typically display the price of corresponding merchandise items on store shelves and are typically attached to a rail along the leading edge of the shelves. EPLs may include a semi-transparent LCD. A store may contain thousands of EPLs to display the prices of the merchandise items. Information about the EPLs is typically maintained in an EPL data file. Price information displayed by the EPLs is obtained from a PLU file. The EPLs are coupled to a central server through a cable or wireless signal connection.
Retail stores have sought other ways to improve the efficiency of the checkout process. In one self-service shopping system, a store issues a shopper's card to a shopper. The shopper's card has a magnetic stripe. Upon entering the store, the shopper swipes the magnetic card through a card reader and retrieves a portable hand-held bar code scanner. The shopper scans items and places them in a shopping cart. The scanner includes a method of deselecting a selected product. The scanner also includes a display which can display a running total of the scanned items. To complete the shopping procedure, the shopper places the scanner in its charging station and receives a receipt. The shopper takes the receipt to a payment station and pays for the items.
This system suffers from the disadvantage that the store must provide and the shopper must carry a hand-held scanner. These scanners may be dropped or otherwise damaged by customers. Thus, this type of self-service shopping system can be expensive for the store.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a self-service shopping system that does not require the customer to carry expensive hardware, including a hand-held bar code scanner.